A Boys Life

Where the Wild Things Are? Where are those wild things? In an upstairs bedroom of my house apparently!

On Friday morning I went upstairs to attend to the baby but made a pit stop in the boys room.

I was a little over come by their world as I stumbled into their boy-cave. Instead of pitching a fit first thing in the A.M. though, (who wants to wake up to that?) I took pictures and tried to appreciate the evidences of little boy that was pocketed all over their room. They didn't mind at this age but I'm sure the pictures would not have been appreciated if they were more pre-teen.

LIFE SPEEDS BY AT TOO FAST A PACE! And though it seems strange I find myself already saddened by their growing up like I was a year away from empty nesting... my oldest is 8.. get a grip momma :)

But, "Hey!", as Si on Duck Dynasty would say, I love my kids and the more I am around them the less I want to be without them! A break here or there is nice but I still miss them when they are gone. I really like the people they are becoming and I'm grateful in this season to be their momma.

Back to the original point- boy caves. Here is a pictorial journey into the lives of my two little men- enjoy!

The two offenders resting peacefully. Ben is on the top bunk with the remnants of his boy-made tee-pee just hanging on. He's sleeping backwards, that is a foot at the top of the ladder.

Ben's dresser top. Some kind of card collection out of its notebook. A cub scout derby car. Rolled coins and other various trinkets and treasures.

Baseball and feather treasures!

A block city for ninjagos and their gear. And yes there is a pair of socks and some underwear resting there too.

Jay's dresser- trophies, feathers, Lego men and gator football! Sounds good to me!

 Notice the precise line up! They are proud of their creations!

Ben's trophies and swim meet ribbons. There is a civil war cannon and gun replica in there too. I could print my own search and find book!

I did not set this up- jeans and Boys' Life magazines... Notice the title- Call of the Wild! This caught my eye and made me run to get my IPhone in the first place!

What boys' life is complete without Star Wars Light Sabers!

Church pants and Nerf Guns!

They do read! I love the combo of Spiderwick and Seuss!

Mom, what are you doing?!

Cozy in the tee-pee remnants!

 Current drawings.. of what..I do not know!

Ben's idea of Cub Scout and Baseball uniform storage... heard of hangers Ben? :)

 As much as I loved the pictorial opportunity- we spent part of the morning before lunch tidying up. Sometimes the mess is too overwhelming for them. But they always help get it back in order. To them the above was their version of a clean room! The boys used to be in separate rooms and then Chloe needed some space upstairs. We decided to reduce and combine their two rooms. It really helps control the mess that would other wise be strewn across two bedrooms and the adjoining bathroom. After my IPhone fun I went next door to get little Coco (as Lily affectionately nicknamed her for us).

And of course this is why I came upstairs in the first place! Little Chloe was waiting for me patiently!

Only The Lonely....

How can anyone feel lonely in 2013? I mean it is the year of social media. You can be in contact with many people instantly through Facebook alone not to mention Twitter and email. And yet isn't it interesting that people seem more lonely than ever? Because the touch of the electronic is no substitute for the human touch. Looking into someones eyes as you share your soul cannot ever replace looking into a computer screen. Seeing in the eyes reflection the understanding, the confirmation, the affirmation or the correction you may be seeking.

A dear kindred spirit of a friend recently forwarded me a post on I Take Joy, a blog by Sally Clarkson, that talked about lonliness and friendship and mentoring. That same day another post on A Holy Experience was titled, "When you are weary of vanilla christianity."

I wonder dear hearts if that is not where true lonliness resides? For those of you who do not have a relationship with Christ, you have a loneliness inside only He can ease. For those of you who do have a relationship with Christ, I wonder if your loneliness (like mine) comes from the desire for friends who are tired of vanilla christianity too? A desire for the conversation to start with Christ and for that common thread to weave throughout the time and not just the latest on such and such TV show.

When you are home with four children and especially when one is a baby you are tethered quite close to home. I try to relish the time quite frankly because having four I know all too quickly the baby will soon be toddling, and then running and then wanting their toes polished or to ride around the block all by themself. That being said though, gosh, anyone needs time with a true friend. A true friend in Christ.

I have one such friend that is moving soon. As Anne, in Anne of  Green Gables desires, this friend is a true bosom friend. We met at a homeschool convention when I had two children and she had two children. Our kids played and we each had our third child very close together. My fourth came along and we moved across town and life got busy and I missed my bosom friend. Now she is moving to Ohio!  I envision many late night calls.

Before she moves though, we have lots of early morning Starbucks or Panera coffee dates to attend to. Or as it has turned out late nights noshing and chatting on my couch!

Ann I will miss you but know you have a great adventure awaiting you :) I can't wait to come and see your old stomping grounds and my phone will always be on and waiting in the meantime. Love you friend :)

You have been the sprinkles on the vanilla christianity in my life !

April update....

So my last post was in January? Oops. I do not have this blog thing down yet but I hope to as the months and years go on. I do not think blogs are going anywhere!

We have had a wonderful few months. Lots of growing pains...literally.... Jay is nearly to my chin! Lily has grown 2 inches and without the hand me downs of cousins and siblings they'd all be running around in skimmers and tube tops.

Here is a picture odyssey of the past few months.

My grandfather in his 80's with Chloe who was about 8 months at the time.

 

Sibling music lessons

 

Amazement in the aquarium at Homossassa Springs! Great trip with great friends!

The beginning of our foray into butterfly metamorphosis....

Chloe sweet and sitting up- now also crawling and eating anything she can find on the floor. We've extracted fuzz, legos, foozballs, leaves, various food particles, and other things that would be too gross to share! Yes we do watch our baby- she's quick and fearless and I guess hungry!

 

Easter! Love the lilies in the background next to our Lily :)

 

Fun pool time at Gaylord Palms! Love it when Chase has local conventions for work!!

Our new venture into Orthodontics... its looks worse than it really is. Cool picture though. This is Jay's mouth and he's had two extractions to help with crowding. Braces are in his future!

Sweet, heart breaking notes from big brothers to little sisters!

 
And lots of fun with cousins!!

 

 

Currently we are winding our school year down and getting ready for summer. I can hardly wait for our first trip to the beach! Hoping by that time Chloe has a little more of an idea of what is considered food- or we may have a sand and shell nibler on our hands come beach time!